Son Hyejin, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Buk-gu Council, urged measures to address potholes that threaten residents' lives and property at the 4th plenary session of the 292nd extraordinary meeting on the 20th.
Known as "landmines on the road," potholes not only damage car tires and wheels but also cause sudden lane changes or abrupt deceleration to avoid them, frequently leading to secondary accidents such as rear-end collisions.
Councilor Son stated, "Potholes occur intensively during the summer monsoon season. Among the 2,434 pothole reports in Buk-gu in 2023, there were 11 cases of vehicle damage and resident harm, of which 7 cases, accounting for 63%, occurred during the summer monsoon from June to August."
However, she pointed out, "The roads directly managed by our district cover a 377 km section, but only 10 staff members, including 9 road maintenance workers and 1 pothole manager, are responsible for maintenance. Due to the severely insufficient workforce compared to the extensive area, there are limitations in promptly detecting and repairing potholes."
She continued, "Compared to road maintenance workers in other districts within the region, Dong-gu manages 107 km of roads with 7 workers, and Gwangsan-gu manages 342 km with 11 workers. In contrast, our district manages 35 km more than Gwangsan-gu but only has 9 road maintenance workers, making workforce reinforcement measures absolutely necessary."
Councilor Son proposed measures to prevent pothole accidents, including ▲ reinforcement of road maintenance personnel ▲ formation of a Buk-gu road monitoring team ▲ establishment of a living road safety guardian group.
Furthermore, she emphasized, "Buk-gu should actively prepare pothole countermeasures by referring to excellent cases such as AI pothole detection and drone-AI pothole detection implemented in Seoul and Dong-gu, Incheon."
In conclusion, she urged, "Even minor potholes can be prevented from causing accidents through active reporting and prompt repairs. Since pothole issues require not only public officials but also residents' participation and interest, we all need to pay attention to creating safe roads so that Buk-gu can grow into a safe city."
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